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Video shows execution of Palestinian in Jerusalem

The apparent execution of a Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem was caught on video by Al Jazeera on Friday.

Israel says that the young man was carrying out a stabbing attack on Israeli Border Police officers when he was killed at the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City.

But video of the incident released by Al Jazeera indicates that the young man did not pose an immediate threat to anyone’s life when massive lethal force was used against him.

The video shows a Border Police officer shooting at the man, who falls to the ground. Then several other heavily armed officers shoot dozens of bullets into the body of the man as he lies on the ground and as passersby hurry away from the scene:

The video is a shocking display of Israel’s routine and reflexive use of lethal force, which has resulted in the slaying of approximately 170 Palestinians, including dozens of children, since a new phase of violence began in October last year.

Al Jazeera media workers who were at the scene to film a field report told the Ma’an News Agency that “six Israeli officers on site surrounded the Palestinian and ‘fired almost 50 bullets’ after he had already been shot twice and fallen to the ground.”

An Israeli police spokesperson told Ma’an that the Israeli forces opened fire on the young man after he drew a knife on them. Two officers were lightly wounded after being stabbed in the upper body and taken to hospital.

Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian bystander was wounded by shrapnel in her foot and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Israeli forces killed two other Palestinians in Silwad last December, both of whom were allegedly waging car-ramming attacks when they were shot dead.

But investigations by journalists and a human rights group suggest that one of those killed, Mahdia Hammad, was not attempting any attack and was trying to get home to feed her baby when soldiers opened fire at her.

Meanwhile in Washington on Friday, the State Department condemned a stabbing attack in a West Bank settlement on Thursday in which a US citizen was fatally wounded.

The Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretzreported that Tuvya Weisman, who lived with his wife and infant daughter in Maaleh Michmash settlement, was a soldier in Israel’s Nahal Brigade and was off duty when he was stabbed and another Israeli moderately wounded.

I send my deepest sympathies to the families. I can't find anymore words to describe the injustice that continues. May God comfort the families of these and all of the murdered...May His Justice come in hopelessness, weakness, and horrible suffering. I implore humanity to stop enabling these atrocities. We are all brothers and sisters.